Untitled Transformers Project
by JerriMaverick
Summary: Back to being the Untitled Transformers Project. Running away is her only option. But after a while you get tired of running and you start to get sloppy. Just keep running. Don't think, don't fall in love, just. Run.
1. Chapter 1

((A/N and Disclaimer: As I am struggling to pay for my college tuition, I'm going to go ahead and say that I do not own any rights to the Transformers franchise. I am just borrowing them for my own pleasure.

I'm not sure whether this is just a one shot or going to be continued. I have an idea of where to take this, it just depends on whether I am motivated to write it. I am a little scared that my characterization of Optimus Prime might be a little off, so if anyone could give me some tips, how his personality would really be, you know, then please, by all means, send me a message or review telling me and giving advise.

Flames will be sent to Wesleyan College of West Virginia and hopefully used as a substitute for money in the tuition race. Happy reviews will be sent to the same school, but instead just to show off how awesome I am, and how glad they should be to have me as a student.

So here goes, please enjoy and as always, read and review.))

The rain was coming down harder now. Before, it had just been a sprinkle, then a drizzle, and now…. Yuk. The girl marched through the rain, head down, glasses fogged up almost to beyond being see through. She shifted the heavy backpack that was on her shoulders onto just one and opened the zipper just enough to shove a grimy hand into. She stepped under a tree that was big enough to have it be dry underneath and pulled out a map. Shoving her glasses up on her nose, she pulled the map close to her face. After glaring at the map for a minute or two, she grunted, smacked her glasses up higher on the bridge of her nose, and placed the map back into the backpack. If she had read the map right, there would be a town coming up in the next ten or so miles. She just had to stay near the high way and follow it till about morning and then she might be able to find a park or a shelter or something.

The girl sighed, resifted the backpack into a better position that went better with the parka that she was wearing, and started walking again. She hoped that she might find some shelter before the actual town, since ten miles was awful far to walk in the rain. She walked for another ten minutes or so, head down, staring at the ground, trying to ignore the way that the rain was slowly creeping into her parka, and soaking into her clothes.

Fucking, worthless, piece o' shit parka.

But it was better then nothing. When you have next to nothing in life, and what little you got you got on account of you working your _fucking _balls off, anything is better then nothing. And besides, the only reason the parka wasn't working that well was because it wasn't really a rain parka. There are many kinds of precipitation, as the girl by now knew very well, and this parka was more of the spitting to drizzle category, and not the fucking downpour that had started not long after sunset.

She trudged through the mud that was forming. She had been sticking to the highways, walking along side the semis and automobiles with a sense of danger that was most fulfilling, and had made it from Las Vegas almost to Barstow, California, but then had been picked up. Turns out that walking on highways is illegal or some shit like that. The girl wasn't really listening when the officer that picked her up was talking to her, just nodded and smiled politely, and when she had been taken back to the station, she was booked, finger prints taken, and mug shot taken as well, the shitters.

Dumb fuck piece o' shit nut munchers.

But oh well. The next day she had been let go, and the lady at the front desk had smiled nicely at her and given her this nice map and told her that there was a lot of secondary roads just off the highway, as long as she didn't mind walking through a bunch of nothing. She smiled politely at the front desk lady, whose name was given as Mrs. McMillan by the nametag, and said thank you and Mrs. McMillan paused for a moment and the girl froze, thinking _'Ah Shit here it goes'_, but then Mrs. McMillan had started talking again, shaking her head a little and the girl sighed inwardly a breath of relief.

By the end of that day her prints would have shifted into a totally different pattern, so she had nothing to worry about from the police, and her eye color was already the polar opposite of the deep brown they had been at the time and even if that McMillan lady had noticed something wrong -maybe she had smiled too widely, maybe the lady noticed that her eyes wear different, maybe a ton of little details that no one ever really noticed- she would have been out of there before she could have told anybody.

So now here she was, trudging through the Angeles National forest, trying to make it anywhere, when she stopped dead in her tracks. She stood, feet apart, in a position that would remind a person watching of the at ease position of a soldier, and stared ahead. Carefully, she raised a hand to her face and roughly wiped at the condensation that had formed on her glasses and glared into the clearing ahead of her. For all purposes necessary, it appeared that there was a big rig parked in the middle of it.

Running a sticky hand through the hair that was hidden under the parka hood, she stood with her head cocked, trying to decide whether the vision in front of her was real or a delusion from not sleeping and instead walking for 3 days straight. After pausing a minute, she stepped forward, closer toward the strange vision in front of her. With her hands out stretched, in mild anticipation to find her hands go through the vision, she was surprised when instead of thin air her hands found smooth metal. Running her hands through her hair again, pushing the parka hood down in thought, she went around the big rig, looking for a door.

_Welp, _she thought as she found it, _if its open then looks like I found my shelter for the rest of the night._

As the door opened smoothly under her hand, she smiled.

The inside of the cabin was warmer then she had expected, and it was dry, which was expected. The girl smiled widely to herself, and sighed happily. Throwing the backpack into the bucket seat beside her, and pulling the parka over her head, she laughed out loud. Finally, something was going right. She sighed into the seat, which was soft leather under her fingertips, and after a moment reached down between the seat and the door and searched for the seat adjuster. She found it and reclined the seat to its full potential. Ripping the glasses off her face and placing them atop her head, she closed her eyes. She was acting stupid she knew this, but it was so nice to be out of the elements and in a comfy seat and who cares if someone finds her it's the person who owns this rig's fault for leaving it unlocked and you know what maybe it's time to stop thinking. She was almost asleep, when a soft clicking noise caused her to open her eyes.

Eyes narrowed, she placed her glasses onto her face again, careful of the split almost in two right arm of them, and stared into the darkness of the cabin. She was used to being thrown out of comfy spots but would rather exit the vehicle on her own accord, then by someone else's. However, the soft click, click, click, sound wasn't coming from outside the cabin, as at first she had thought it was, thinking perhaps that the owner of the rig was out for a piss and was slowly walking his way back. She had had enough cowboy boots in the ribs while being thrown out of a vehicle more then enough times thank you and didn't feel like repeating the bruises, even if they did only last an hour tops. The sound was instead coming from the inside cabin, and after a moment of sitting still and listening, she turned her head sharply to the right and stared at the heat vent. Slowly she inched closer to it, and as she did a warm breeze flowed against her cheek.

The heat was on.

Leaning against the reclined seat she paused, trying to make light of the situation. Perhaps the owner of the rig had indeed stepped out and in leaving forgot to turn the vehicle off? She raised her eyes to the ignition but there was no key there. Her fingers traced the ignition switch. It was turned to start but there was no key.

"What the fuck…" Her voice was raspy, having not been used for about a week, not since that brush with the police in that dirt fuck of a town. She sighed in annoyance. It wasn't fair. The first time in a week that she has decent shelter, and shelter in the dreary November rain of Southern California at that, and it has to make her think. Why the hell was the heat on if there was no key? What, did they make trucks with the push button start shit that was going into the fancy ass Bentleys and Cadillac's and all the other luxury autos you know that there was no way in hell was going to be on of those in an eighteen wheeler. No way. So what the fuck indeed.

She clenched her teeth together at an angle and stuck out her lower lip in a pout, thinking, not realizing she was doing it. Subconsciously her right hand was making its way to the backpack and out of it she grabbed a can of Beanie-Weenies. Opening the tin can one handedly, the left one on the armrest, finger nails making a rapping noise as she thought, she lifted the can to her mouth and swallowed. She grimaced. Disgusting. But, better then nothing.

She returned to her thoughts, while swallowing the barely able to be called subsidence, food. Perhaps, it is not a touch activated ignition, but a voice recognition. She snorted. That made no sense. She had not, upon entering the cabin, said "Heat turn on." But something had started it, and she would like to know what. Did she utter something as she entered the cabin? She supposed that it wouldn't be unlike her to talk to herself without knowing. Deciding to test the theory of voice recognition, the girl placed one hand over the heat vent next to her, where there was no denying that heated air was indeed coming out of it, and said, in her raspy, unused voice, "Heat off."

It took a minute, but slowly the clicking sound died off, and the warm air that was blowing into the cabin slowly cooled and then shut off as well. She blinked. She hadn't actually expected that to work.

Keeping her hand over the vent she tentatively voiced the command, "Heat on." A second later warm air was indeed coming into the cabin and she sat back in the bucket seat, dumb founded.

"Radio on."

Click.

"-way down around Vicksburg, Around Mississippi way, lived a Cajun lady," Mountain filled the cabin and her eyes opened wide. Holy fuck-shit. It worked. She hadn't expected that.

"Radio off."

Click.

Silence filled the cabin.

She took a deep breath, a removed her hand from the vent. Well. This was new. Wondering whether the rig was also equipped with an AI, she almost opened her mouth to voice her question when she shut it again. It was best to not bother the AI if there was one, she figured, as she knew what happened when AI's where bothered. She didn't want to end up splattered on the windshield, since that was happened in all the movies. Sitting back against the seat she resigned herself to the fact that, either way, she was out of the rain and in the warmth of a vehicle, and for once not expected to pay back for the comfort, as she was mostly propositioned.

But still, the idea that someone might come back and not like her being in the rig gnawed at her mind. Biting at her lower lip, she lifted the backpack and rested it a moment in her lap, debating whether or not to leave. Heaving a sigh she did a curt nod to herself, making up her mind. She reached for the door handle, pulled at it, and was surprised when the door did not open. She stared a moment, head cocked, staring at her hand, then rolled her eyes. She had forgotten to unlock the door! Of course she didn't remember locking it…. Either way it was locked. Lifting her hand she pulled at the lock and it pulled up. Reaching once again to the door jam, it puzzled her when it did not open. Lifting her eyes, she cocked her head. The lock was down again. Repeating the action of unlocking, she kept her eyes on the lock this time as she attempted of open the door. Her eyes widened as she witnessed the lock going down on its own accord, just as she moved the jam.

Slowly lifting her hand from the door she sat up, ramrod straight, hands gently placed on the backpack. She could feel her heartbeat in her throat. Holy shit-fuck cockmunch goddamn it to the hell on earth she was going to die. She was inside a big rig in the middle of the woods and she was being held hostage by a sentient AI that was going to kill her because that's what happened to all the girls in the movies that she had seen on the base. She was going to be killed she was going to be killed she was going to be- What was that?

Her head whipped to the radio, her eyes wide and her mouth turned down in slight fear. The dial whipped around the radio, and music stations went wild.

"Please." Her voice a harsh whisper. "Oh god please…."

"**Please calm down." **A deep, soothing voice came through the radio, and her heartbeat and breathing instead got harsher.

"No. No, no, no, no I've gone crazy."

"**Please stay calm.** **Your heartbeat is elevated to a dangerous level. I do not want you go into cardiac arrest."**

"Let me go. I'm sorry. Please don't hurt me, I'm sorry, I'll leave you. Just let me go, please."

Her hand pulled repeatedly at the door jam as she pleaded.

"**I'm sorry, but the adverse weather conditions, mixed with your body readings, has made it clear that for the best, you should stay inside, at least until the weather lets up."**

The male voice was final as it said that, and she froze. She was stuck here. At least until the rain let up. Alright, she could do that. She could feel her heart beat start to slow down and she relaxed. Alright. Maybe this wasn't such a bad thing right? In the movies the sentient AI always had the persons best interest at heart. Maybe she could trust it. And besides, it was only a machine. What harm could it do? And besides, at the heart of it all, all this was probably just a hallucination brought on by lack of sleep anyways.

"Alright." She voiced after a minute. "I'll. I'll stay."

She placed her bag into the passenger seat. Now what?

"**I recommend that you get some sleep. I have fully functional sleeping quarters in the rear of my cabin."**

She stared at the radio. "No thanks. I'm not sure I'll be able to sleep after tonight. But uh, thanks anyways.

"**I insist that you sleep, for the good of your health you need at least 8 hours of sleep per 24 hours."**

She sighed. "I suppose some sleep might be good for me, then when I wakeup I'll be able to get rid of this hallucination."

She climbed into the back of the cabin and was surprised to find a bed all made up, like it was ready just for her. That just further strengthened her theory of this being a hallucination. Slipping off her shirt and pants, she crawled into the sheets, and sighed. It was nice to be in a bed again. She hadn't been in a bed since the jail cell in Barstow. Maybe when she got to the city she would be able to find a shelter and she'd be able to have a real bed again.

As she drifted off to sleep, the radio spoke up.

"**What is your name?"** It asked in it's soothing voice.

"Seraphim."

"**It is a lovely name." **

"Thank you." She yawned and snuggled deeper into the pillow. "The boy on the base would call me Sera."

"**Then that is what I shall call you. You may call me Optimus Prime."**

"**Uh huh."**

**She fell asleep.**


	2. Chapter 2

Seraphim did not dream, according to the scientist. According to him, she and the others never went into a deep enough slumber to experience dreams. To him, that was the reason for their issues and the mental conditions that all of them experienced. As Shirley Jackson so eloquently put it, noting can exist in complete sanity. She proposed that even animals must dream, in order to keep some semblance of sanity. But the children did not dream. They instead stayed in the first to second level of sleep, constantly at attention. The one time that he, the scientist, had decided to awaken them before they naturally awoke, the blood of six men had splattered the walls, one for each child.

But after Seraphim had escaped, she had learned to have dreams And she had learned how to have nightmares. Most of her dreams were filled with the images of the scientist. His bright green eyes, with slight laugh lines in the corners. He had long eye lashes, which brushed against the thin wire rimmed glasses that sat on his high bridged nose. His crooked and charming smile, his impeccable clothing, these were what he was known for in the hospital wing. He was handsome in a way that caused the female attendants to swoon over and he was a leader, able to make any man believe in him and his cause. His hair was always perfectly combed to the side, with a part that must have been made with a ruler everyday. His clothing was perfectly ironed, his collar freshly starched and white, and his shoes shined until one could see themselves in them.

But Seraphim remembered his hands best. Those beautiful hands, long fingered, pale, and soft. Woman's hands really, or an artists hands. But Seraphim knew what those hands were capable of doing. She had seen those beautiful hands, supple of skin and soft of touch, rip into a child's chest cavity, and pull out the heart, steaming in the cool air of the medical center. She had seen those neatly trimmed fingers, with cuticles neatly pushed back, point out which of them was next for an exam, an exam that always began with pleading and always ended in screams and cries. Seraphim had seen those hands stained red, the long nails a cherry color, holding a pen and signing the report, which had been printed up, declaring that all the children in the wing was to be put to death, as they were no longer needed for research.

Seraphim remember all this, and she dreamed of it now.

When she woke up, the rain had died down. Seraphim laid still, her eyes still closed, trying to keep her breathing slow and steady, and attempting to make her heart stop pounding. She could hear the beats in her eardrums. Bam-Bam-Bam-Bam-Bam-Bam. It deafened her and made her head ache. Snaking a hand down beside her, she reached into her pack and retrieved a small container. Migraine Relief, it shouted in bright print on its label, and she opened it with out looking at it. Her dream was still going through her head, her nightmare. It was a different one each time, but they always held the same ending, and she always awoke with a migraine. Seraphim dry swallowed five of the extra strength relief, and opened her eyes.

Bright light danced on the roof of the cabin. Seraphim sat up, and reached for her bag. Pulling out a different shirt, she stuffed the one from the night before into the bag and then got dressed. She stood up and pulled on her pants after putting on the shirt, an obnoxious orange colored, Hawaiian print number laying open over her white wife beater. The pants, the bottom half of an old military flight suit, were her only pair, and it showed. They were mud-blood- and questionably stained, and they were held up by a thick leather belt with a novelty belt buckle that was engraved with a hand letting the middle finger show in all it's glory. Now in the light, Seraphim could see how bad she looked. She slid into the drivers seat and flipped the visor down. She grimaced as she looked into the mirror. Staring a moment she reached into the bag once more and pulled out a pair of mirrored aviator sunglasses. She pulled off her thick black rimmed glasses, and after a moment of staring hard into the mirror, her eyes started to change color and shape. It took a minute but soon she was able to see with out the glasses and she pop on the sunglasses in their place. After a moment she sighed, flipped the visor back up, and reached for the door jam.

Seraphim paused just as her fingers touched the jam. Would the AI let her out? It was no longer raining, and the sun was shining in all it's Southern California glory, so there was no reason for it not to. She took a deep breath, braced herself, and pushed at the door. It opened. She opened her eyes and smiled. Good. She was allowed out. Seraphim gathered up her stuff and the garbage from the Beanie-Weenies' dinner of the night before and stepped out into the day light, her eyes squinting. She slammed the door shut, then reached into the bag and pulled out a pack of Camels unfiltered. Lighting up using the Zippo lighter that was in her pocket she stood, leaning against the truck, she closed her eyes, relishing the taste of tobacco in her lungs.

"**Good morning."**

Seraphim froze mid inhale. Shit-fuck.

"**I see you're a smoker."**

Seraphim let out the smoke and looked at the cigarette. "Yea well, it takes the edge out of my life."

"**I see. You understand that smoking fully restricts the amount of oxygen in your blood, and makes your chances of developing any type of cancer triple?"**

"Yea actually I do. I'm not an idiot, Mr. AI. And besides, I'm not exactly _human_ per say, so cigarettes don't affect me the same way as.

The machine went silent. Seraphim inhaled the rest of the cigarette in one breath and let it out in the span of a second. Dropping the stub onto the dirt, she ground it out with the heel of her boot. Swinging the backpack onto her shoulder she clicked her heels together, her right hand cocked in a salute to the 18 wheeler.

"Thanks Mr. AI sir, for letting me stay inside of you. I'll be leaving now, and you will, by any account, never see me again." She released the salute and waved. "Adios."

"**Wait."**

Seraphim paused, her back turned to the vehicle. "Yes…?"

"**What do you mean by you not being exactly human? My sensors, while not as powerful as some, have indicated that you are indeed a member of the taxonomy group Homo sapiens."**

"Look, forget what I said. I'm not at liability to discuss my inner workings with a computer." She stared to walk off but the reve of an engine made her turn around. The 18 wheeler was following her. "Hey. What do you think your doing? You can't follow me. Go away." She waved a hand in the opposite direction. "Shoo."

"**As I am not a simple minded creature, you cannot get rid of me as easily as that. I insist that you tell me what you mean by that statement."**

Seraphim gritted her teeth.

"Listen, I have to make it to Los Angeles by night fall and if I stay and talk to you then I won't make it and then I'll be murdered by all the creepy people that come out after dark. Do you want to have me killed? Then let me go already."

She turned on her feet and marched out of the clearing. She was almost to the tree line when the truck spoke up again.

"**Let me drive you. You will arrive at your destination much faster, and then you will have time to tell me about what you meant."**

Seraphim paused. Are you serious? The truck really wanted to talk to her about a statement that was said without really thinking? Shit. But then she sighed. It would be nice to have a ride into a city, instead of walking or hitching into one. And the AI was nice enough, not really mean or anything, not at all like what she thought an AI would be like. But then, what if the AI insisted that she stay with it? Well, that just couldn't happen, since she had to be on the road. It wouldn't be long before the signs started to show that they were about to find her and she would have to move again. She sighed, making up her mind.

"Alright, Mr. AI truck thing. I'll ride with you. But have to promise that you'll let me out of your cabin when I want to be let go alright?"

The truck revved and the voice said, **"Understood."**

Seraphim paused, then walked back to the truck. The drivers side door opened for her and she hesitated. "Are you sure you want me on the drivers side? I don't want to get in the way of your driving."

"**I insist."**

"Alright…"

She climbed into the cabin and the door shut behind her. The seatbelt snaked its own away around her middle and tightened. Seraphim stared at the gauges as the engine roared to life. She had been in a lot of big rigs but none were as sleek and pretty as this one. Even the steering wheel was pretty, with an odd little insignia in the middle of it. Leaning forward she stared at it. It was none of the big car companies insignias. Instead it looked a little like a robot head. Weird.

They headed out of the clearing and after a few minutes 4 wheel driving over the dirt roads that Seraphim had walked over last night, they ended up on asphalt. They drove in silence, Seraphim staring out the window, head in her hands. The AI was a decent driver, being careful around pot holes and other vehicles, and after a few more minutes they entered the highway. At this rate, they would make it to L.A. and Seraphim wouldn't have to tell it what she meant by-

"**Tell me what you meant by your statement before."**

Goddammit.

"Do I have to?" But Seraphim was already reaching into her backpack, retrieving her pack of cigarettes. "If I'm going to tell, I have to smoke, or I won't have the nerve to tell, alright?"

The rig was silent for a moment but then said that was alright.

Seraphim lit up, pulling smoke into her lungs, and the window opened before she let it out.

"Ah. Thank you. Now, you want to know what I meant when I said I wasn't exactly human. Well… I meant exactly that. I am not fully human."

"**Explain."**

Inhale, exhale.

"Alright. God, I can NOT believe I'm telling you this. This is high class security shit that I'm about to tell you, got it? That means if they find out I told you," her voice took on a twinge of fear. " I don't know what would happen to be."

"**Rest assured, I will not tell any person what you will tell me."**

**She sighed, "Alright, I don't know why, but I trust you." Seraphim inhaled the rest of the cigarette. "Here goes."**


	3. Chapter 3

Alright peoples, I had a hard time writing this chapter. I had so much info that I wanted to tell you through this chapter but then I go to thinking that I didn't want to reveal all this shit so soon in the story, and besides, I want to leave y'all wondering what the hell Seraphim is for a little longer. So after typing up the first half of chapter 3 I decided that I needed to rewrite the entire thing. So that's why it's been so long for this update. I promise that I haven't abandoned this story at all, I'm just having some difficulties.

Disclaimer is in effect, therefore I admit to the fact that I don't own the Transformers line of action figures or the copyright to the movies. Though soon enough, in about a month or two, I will be able to say that I have held purchase to a pair of awesome Transformer tattoos on my feet, so therefore after that I'll be able to say that I own those, but until then I got nothing.

So the idea behind this chapter was that I was gonna reveal Seraphim's back-story, by way of a massive monologue that she would be telling to Optimus Prime. But then, as I was typing up the story, I kept having this annoying, nagging voice in the back of my head, saying that it was too much information too soon in the story, and also that , Seraphim just met this thing, this bizarre big rig that can talk to her and is seemingly able to do everything on it's own. She would SOOOO not trust the thing enough to tell her entire backstory. For all she knows this could be a plant from the military operation that she is running from! So with that nagging in the back of my brain I decided that I needed a total rehaul of the chapter, which sucks, but don't worry, I'll soon work in that chapter into another one.

Also, I finally decided on a title for this project, and I really like the title of it as well. It deals with a problem of mine which I hope to write into the story. I don't want this to become an anvilicious message you know, but it is true and it is a bad thing.

So, with no further a due, Chapter 3b

**Title**: Cutting it Out

**Author**: Jerri Maverick

**Rating:** T for graphic language, crushes and crude humor

**Warnings: **This story is going to take a very long time to right, as I am going off to college for the first time ever in less then a week. Therefore updates might be far in-between each other; however, I am working on making my chapters less choppy and longer in the same stride. I'm known as a writer that loves cliffhangers and the like and for just cutting off the ending abruptly with no real solid ending, as I have always had a hard time ending stories. For me, no story is never finished being told, it's just whether you're done telling that part of it yet. So for all the readers out there that are enjoying this story so far, I apologize in advance for not updating very fast. However, you may help me along by reading and reviewing the story. All reviews are welcome, yes even flames, as the good ones will help me to write more, the critical ones will help me to become a better writer and the flames will give me something to put on my dartboard and practice my aim with. Thank you and have a very Brady day. =]

* * *

"So... where to begin..." Serephim tossed the cigarette butt out of the window and lit up another one. "I was raised on a military base." She spoke evenly, no emotion showing in the nearly robotic monologue. "I am an orphan, as far as I know and I was found by a doctor when i was roughly 8 years old. I don't remember my real family. All I remember is Dr. Leopold Fritz. He was a brilliant man, and very scary." Inhale-exhale. "I was the perfect child and I wanted to be just like the good doctor. He was my everything you see. He fed me, clothed me, taught me, but all through my childhood he never told me what type of doctor he was. And so my mind was filled with thoughts of fixing people and making then all better."

She paused for a minute, staring out the open window, the cigarette burning in her hand. When she spoke again her smooth voice was twinged with fear and sadness. "When I was 15, he told me what he did. Turned out that he wasn't a medical doctor, not really. He was able to set a bone, and diagnois an illness, but his specialty was experiments. Human experiments. I- You have to understand, " She stared at the radio, having decided earlier that was where the A.I.'s main station was. "It was World War II, we were stuck in the doldrums at the time. It was winter and it seemed like no one was winning. Dr. Fritz... he found a way to possibly turn the tide to us.

**So he experimented on you.**

Serephim nodded, staring out the window.

**Without your approval I am guessing.**

Serephim froze, "What did you just say." She said quietly. She turned to face the radio consol. "Did you just insult the doctor?" Her eyes flashed gold and her mouth snarled. In an instant her mouth elongated, and become muzzle like, her teeth sharpening and she growled. "_No one _insults the good doctor." Serephim reached out and swiped at the radio, smashing the glass plate that covered the internal electronics with a hand that had fingers twice as long as they once were, the nails pointed and claw like. "The doctor was a good man. And _no one _shall desicrate his name while I am alive." She hissed, pulling out some wires as she said, to emphasis the point. " I'll murder anyone that does."

She sat back after her attack was finished, breathing hard. She closed her eyes and rested her head against the window, drawing her legs up to her chest. After a moment of silence, she started to cry. "I'm sorry." She sniffed. "I don't know why I do that it's just, I don't _know." _Her sniffs became sobs. "It's just, after all that went down after the War, he- he was the only one that stood by me. He's the one that _saved _me." After a mmoment her sobs died down and she rested her head against the window. "I'm sorry I hurt you." She said, she said mournfully.

**It is alright.** The A.I. said. **No harm came from it.**

"Yes it did! I shattered..." He voice died down as she looked at the radio. The glass was fixed. "How did you...?"

**Perhaps after you tell me about yourself, I could tell you about myself.**

"I. uhhh... okay then. Where was I?"

**Dr. Fritz had found away to turn the tide...**

"Oh. Alright. Yea. Uhh... So anyways, there was 6 of us. Us mutate things. That's what we were called, The Mutates. Dumb ass name I know but make then, you know, the forties, it was cool. I had a different name that just the 6 of us used. To ourselves, we were the Trinity." He voice got soft as her face relaxed, remembering the past. "We each had codenames. It was so awesome.

First there was Malachim. He was 23. Just married. And it killed him that he couldn't have kids. The radiation caused infertility in 100% of the people who underwent it. Even the workers who gave us the radiation treatments in the begining become useless that way. But he knew the risks. But still. He was just a baby and he acted like one sometimes. He was the least powerful of the 6 of us, just able to do the basic shit, eye color, fingerprints, the like. He couldn't even fly. And he was one hell of a fighter, and I was proud to fight beside him.

The leader of us was Michael, at 28. He was the strongest of us shapeshifters, after myself of course. It's really ironic when you think about it, but the gene supposedly acts best when exposed to younger people, but he was the second oldest. Funny how genetics work. But anyways, he was a bear of a man, with these massive hands. Crack a walnut with those hands... I saw him do it once, we were in Germany, near the end of the war, and we were sitting around the fire... but I'm getting off topic. He was the self appointed leader of us but we didn't mind. He was a great leader, unforgiving in punishment, but so gentle when you weren't looking. But he wouldn't fight your battles for you. Save yourself and then save someone else. He was the last of us to go."

The big rig pulled up to the homeless shelter, but Serephim took no heed of it, instead continuing her story.

"Gabriel was the girl of the group, and she was sooooo whiny. But she was the information holder of us. She was the one that knew all the shit that us muscle weren't bothered with. Because of it she was the one that we had to save every fucking week it felt like. But she was a sweetheart. A real spitfire. She was, if I remember correctly, originally a factory girl at the military base were I was raised.

Then there was Raphael. He was ancient. Like, 39. I don't know how the hell he even survived the radiation treatments. He was a doctor friend of Fritz, and was actually one of the first to be dosed with it. He told me that there was a gene in certain people that made it so that they could survive the radiation. But still... he was so _old_. But either way, he was always there to patch us up and slap some putty over our wounds." She laughed but it died down fast enough. She sighed. "And then there was Malach.

Malach was... the death of us. Not meaning he killed us that is, but he was the most lethal. While the rest of us would hold off the killing blow, he would do anything in his power to spread blood. It was. It was messy working with him. But he was a hell of a fighter. And once you got past the bloodthirsty extior, you met a really decent guy.

So anyways, that's what I am."

Serephim smiled sadly at the radio, "That's the whole story really. Unless you want to hear some old War stories which I doubt you would. Those were the best years of my life, ironically. They were only during wars but still."

**What happened to the others?**

"Oh... killed in action mostly. Uriel did a suicide mission near the end of Dub-Dub-Two, Gabriel was tortured to death in Korea, Malachim was burned to death in Vietnam, friendly fire. But Micheal, he commited suicide in '92."

**I see.**

"Soo... yea."

Serephim picked up her napsack and set it on her lap. "Thanks for the story time. It was nice to relive the glory days. Bye!"

She opened the door to the rig and slid out onto the pavement.

**I will be waiting for you when you return. **

Serephim laughed. "Some how I highly doubt that. Thanks for the ride."

She saluted, heels clicked together and shoulders back. Then she entered the Union Station Homeless Services building.

* * *

When Serephim exited the building 3 hours later she was excited but depressed at the same time. The place would let her stay only for a week. Turns out there were a shit load of homeless people in Los Angelos and as a migrate she wasn't at the top of the list. Shitters the lot of them. Leaning against the street light Serephim lit a cigarette, taking in the burning air in a big lungful. Sigh. It didn't really matter, not really. She figured she would only stay in the city long enough to get a job forn just long enough to get a enough money down to travel a bit more. Serephim was hoping to make it to Canada before winter. Serephim didn't really want to go to Canada, but it seemed like a cool eough place to live, and the people up there were more relaxed and accepting. At least, that's what she hoped. And it would be best if she got out of the country, since she was tecnically a wanted felon. But until then it was Beenie-Weenie dinners and homeless shelters.

Welp, time to get moving. Serephim lifted the napsack onto her back and started to hoof it. Walking in the heat of the day was a lot different then the night, but the dust was kept down by the rain from the night before, and the humidity wasn't so bad. She paused on the intersection of East Orange Grove and some other street. The sign had been stolen it seemed. Showed what kind of nieghborhood this was in she supposed. At least it hadn't tried to be anything other then what it was, the homeless shelter that is. It was small and a bit dingy, but it was clean and there wasn't over crowding. Not like some of the shelters she had stayed at, where she had had to share a cot with another girl. But at least then she was able to share with a person of the same gender.

As Serephim was waiting for the cross light to turn girl for her to walk across the road, a horn made her turn. Well what the hell. It was the big rig from that morning and the night before.

"Well hey-lo." Serephim smirked. "You're back." She flipped the aviator glasses onto the top of her head. The big rig blasted it's horn and skidded to a stop. It swung open it's door and honked again.

Serephim raised an eyebrow. "No need to be pushy you damn thing." She started to climb into the seat but then realized that the people on the street must be thinkin what the hell. She turned around in the seat and smiled at the other 2 people on the street, both of them staring at her, just like how she thought they would be. "It's my dad. I tried to run away. So... yea! Bye!"

She slammed the door shut and the big rig roared down the street. The men looked at each other, one selling oranges the other roses.

"¿De qué demonios estuvo eso acerca?" Oranges asked Roses.

Roses shrugged. "Blancos."


	4. Chapter 4

Welp, peoples, I'm in college now, officially moved in and everything. Kinda nervous but so excited at the same time. I'm still having some nervous stomach gurgles about it tho which is pissing me off. I'm not the kind of person to dwell on things, not normally, so to have my body be all evil and not wanting to get over the fact that I'm in college now is bothering me. So…. Okay. Everything is fine with the roommate, we aren't gonna be the best of friends but we are friendly to each other which is what really counts. My first day of classes is on the 23rd, which right now is tomorrow so that's got me all wide awake and shit. My biology teacher has already assigned some homework too, even tho she saw us only at what was a departmental meeting for majors but still. Homework already. Uhg. I don't mind it tho, it's only reading. Of course in accordance with me trying and making a conscious effort to be a better student and get the best grades I possibly can, I'm taking extensive notes as well. It's boring and right now I'm putting off doing it by typing this but hey, I'm making an effort, promise.

Alright, so the idea behind this chapter was going to be Serephim is hanging out with Optimus Prime and talking with him and he is trying to make her understand that he is 'more then meets the eye' and she's being thick on purpose and not believing him. But eventually, he gets through to her and she goes blank for a minute. Later, after the BSOD moment is passed, Optimus makes the suggestion that she stay with the Witwicky's. She venomously disagrees that that would be for the best and starts to leave on her own when Optimus declares that then HE will be her base.

And while that makes for a decent chapter, I started to think that maybe it would be better, I really didn't want Optimus to reveal himself quite so soon. It's pretty obvious that this chick has some issues, whether she wants to reveal them or not and it prolly wouldn't go over well if the seemingly safe world of the big rig is an alien life form. So instead I decided that a stoic silence might be more in his personality. But other then that the chapter is the same, outline wise.

**Title**: Cutting it Out  
**Author**: Jerri Maverick  
**Rating:** T for graphic language, crushes and crude humor  
**Warnings: **I'm trying to evolve my character of Serephim into a fully fleshed out being so please tell me if I am. I'm looking for critique people and am welcoming it heartily. Also, the personality of Optimus Prime is being attempted for the first time, as now there will be actual dialogue between the two characters instead of just Serephim talking and Optimus listening. I've never seen the original series so therefore I am going off the movies only. I'm sorry if that offends people and makes you think that I am not a true fan because of it. I believe that being a true fan just means that you don't care what they do to a series that you will be a fan of it no matter what and that's how I am with the movie series and the now a days TV series, even if the TV series sucks major ass. I am a true fan and don't care. But I respect if you don't like what I'm doing to the character and as I've said before am welcoming any critique that I can get. So please, R and R and as always, have a very Brady Day. =P

* * *

The silence in the cab could have been cut with a knife. The 18 wheeler drove in silence, and Serephim didn't feel like talking. She like she had done something wrong, as if walking on her own had been a mistake, or atleast that the big rig had thought it was. But hey! He was the one that hadn't been waiting for her outside the building like he said he would be. Serephim snorted and continued thinking. As if an 18 wheeler could hold up promises. But still, Serephim had been disappointed when she had walked out of the dingy building and there was no one- no thing that is, the big rig wasn't really a person, even if it did act like one- waiting for her. It would have been a nice change, coming out and finding something waiting for her. But still. He- It- wasn't there so she had walked. So if it wants to be a big ole butt and not talk to her that was it's problem.

Serephim glanced at the radio, not saying anything, but wanting to. It wasn't like her to be silent, not when there was someone to be talking to, and in reality it was kind of killing her to be silent. But she would remain silent until he- Goddammit it was an it not a he- spoke first. Serephim wondered where the big rig had gone while she was in the building. It had only been an hour or so while she found out all the stuff she needed to know, about how she would be kicked out the moment a new immigrant popped in his dusty head, which Serephim didn't think was fair. If she ever opened a homeless shelter (which would never happen but if it did) she would never kick out a person. Serephim would just get more beds for the person!

Serephim knew it didn't work like that, but it left her fuming to know that she would be kicked out. What if she wasn't 'on her feet' by the weeks end huh? What then? She didn't ask but she figured that the lady she had talked to, who looked tired as hell and like she had given up on life to ever really be kind to her, made it clear that she would be given care for the week, medical care, food, and a place to sleep for the week and nothing more.

Serephim sighed, thinking about it, but when it came down to it, she had been in worser placees, and at least, like she thought before, she will be in a warm place, and she could always hoof it to the next homeless shelter in L.A. Not like there was only the one, and she had done that before, moving around a city by way of homeless shelter, leaving only when the shelters ran out. Normally she lasts about a month, but once it had taken 3 months, staying each place for a week. That had been in New York City. But the problem was, what was she going to do in the long run. It was impossible to assume that she could continue to live in the shelters, wandering the United States. She had already been doing that for about 2 years and had been everywhere from Albuquerque, New Mexico and Riverbend, Montana to New York, New York and Vancuver B.C. and eventually it was going to end up around her like a stack of cards that used to be a house.

Serephim knew it was only time before the Agency found her, that she was lucky to have escaped this far already, but she couldn't just give up. It wasn't like her, and it literally wasn't in her to give up. She was the only member of the team to have survived all the wars, all the mass killings and napalm and bombings. The others just gave up after awhile, like Uriel. The bastard was the last to die in a war, because he got sloppy. He started to not give a damn of whether he survived or not. And then it was just Michael and Serephim. And even then, Serephim was the only one with the fucking _drive_ to survive, the _willpower_. She refused to give up and she refused to die like an animal. Which is what would happen to her if she was caught. Serephim knew that Michael hadn't actually commited suicide, it was just easier to think that he had. No, she knew.

She saw the papers. She saw the fucking _orders_. The ones that regulated that the remaining Mutates be exterminated. Serephim felt nausiated as she remembered the disections. Dr. Fritz had made it so that she might survive. She just had to sign her life away to the military, not like that was that hard. But suddenly, it become nothing. She couldn't do it. She had to get out. Because if the military could so easily order her death then they might just kill her anyways. Serephim had begged the doctor to just kill her. And when he complied, she didn't die. She didn't _fucking _die. He had knocked her out and started to bleed her to death, which was the only way to kill the others, that or complete destruction of the body and there was no way he could literally explode with to death, not in the base, and she _didn't **fucking **die. _He had bleed her completely dry and after a day had past she sat up in the morgue, breathing and still kicking. It terrified her. What if she was immortal or something. What if the world around her crumbled and she stood ever lasting, immortal, and it scared her to think like that but in the dead of night, when the night around her was silent and the stars burning above her head where twinkling and when she was in a mood, it was all she could think about. Stars, the heavenly bodies above her, they exploded into life, and they exploded into death too and yet she might never.

She shivered thinking about it.

* * *

While Serephim continued her thoughts, her head pressed up against the window of the drivers seat, Optimus Prime sat thinking his own thought. This girl. She was different. She was... not right. He didn't know what to think of her really. She came out of no where, had almost no heat signature, and it wasn't until she was touching his hood that he even knew that she was there. It was a lucky thing that he had already been transformed or this Serephim would have come across him in is real form. Optimus didn't think that it was a good idea to let this girl, this Serephim, to know quite yet about his real form. He didn't think she could handle it. Let her continue to think that he was simply a computer and perhaps she won't wonder why he doesn't seem to have an owner. But there was the question of what to do about her.

She had told him that she was on the run from the goverenment, so that means she is an allusive person. In order to run away from the perverbial Big Brother of this nation, it would take skills that only the best goverentment agent would have. So she must have powers beyond what she had shown him during that moment before she left for the shelter. That change... it was both pysical and mental. It was as if mentioning something bad about the Dr. Fritz person had triggered some kind of bodyguard like attack. Optimus wondered as he signaled right whether that was her position when there was no wars. Serephim seemed to treat the doctor as some kind of replacement father, and perhaps that was for the best. People flourish when they think they can get the approval of their higher ups.

But what to do with her. There was no way that Optimus could let her go, not knowing that she was on the run from something much worse then she would let on. And yet, she couldn't very well stay with him. It would be impossible for the two of them to comfortably exist, not with him needing to be able to transform when he needed and not be worried about her. What she needed was a stable environment. What she needed was a surrogate family. And there was one that Optimus knew would be happy to take her in. And that was where he had went while she was in the shelter. It had been easy to set up, for the most part. All Optimus had to do was convince them to let her stay, but once the female knew about the plan, there was no way that the girl would not be taken in by them. It was, as the Earth expression is, easy as pie.

Now to convince Serephim... that might be a little harder to do.

* * *

**Serephim.**

Serephim jerked her head from the window. She had fallen into a light doze, but she was used to being awoken by people. Mostly by screams of 'Get the fuck out!' but someone saying her name had the same responce. "Not the face!" She reflexly covered her face, lifting a leg and cowering in the corner of the chair.

**Serephim. As I have told you before I mean you no harm.**

She blinked and lowered her limbs. "I knew that." She smiled sheepishly and rubbed her head, "Instinct. Your lucky, I used to automatically try to fight who ever was calling my name. Inbreed traits I think they're called." She stretched her arms over her head and smiled contentedly. "So what's up?"

**I was wondering, child, what is your plan for staying in the city.** The voice inquired, as the vehicle drove into a suburb.

"Well... truthly I was worried about that myself." Serephim stared out the windows, staring at the houses passing by. A lot of them had people sitting in the front yard. It was a swanky neighborhood that was for sure. "I figured that I would stay in the shelters for now, I was gonna start heading up north once the whether gets warm again. I spend my winters in the southrn states, summers around the Washington slash Oregon area. Figured I would maybe go up to Canada this time."

**I see. What if I told you I knew a place you could stay at for as long as you needed.**

"I'd ask where the hell does a vehicle have connections like that." She laughed but looked interested. "Where at? Is it a special shelter for people running away from the government or something?"

**It is a special shelter you could say. It is the family of a friend of mine.**

"Where at?"

**Here.**

The 18 wheeler pulled up infront of a two story brown sided house with a perfectly manatured lawn. Serephim scooted over to the passengers seat in order to get a better look at the house.

"It looks... nice." She commented, pulling her rucksack into her lap.

**I gaurentee, they will take care of you.**

"I dunno..."

**I give my word.**

Serephim looked at the radio, back to the house, to the radio again. "Alright."

Serephim opened the door to the passengers side but paused before stepping out. "I want to thank you," She said. "you gave me shelter and it was really nice. I haven't had a decent nights rest in a very long time. Thank you."

**You are very welcome. And before you go, I want you know. My name is Optimus Prime.**

Serephim slid out of the cockpit and walked around to the front of the cab and paused. Where the Peterbilt or Mack insignia was suppose to be, there was instead the odd little robot head that was on the steering wheel"Optimus Prime huh? That's a pretty epic name. I like it." She leaned down and gave the insignia a quick kiss. "Thank you. I mean it from the bottem of my heart."

With a quick look back at the cab she started to walk up the concret to the door that stood between her and a new room. From the cab to the door was only 30 steps, but as Serephim got closer and closer to the door, her footsteps slowed and her face went from the vague smile expression it normally always had on it, to one of worry. What if they didn't like her. What if they only wanted her to stay for a week. What if-

She got to the door, a massive wooden thing that had a fancy ass door knob, and she paused. It was only when the big rig honked it's horn did she knock, and from inside came voices.

"She's here! She's here already and I just unpacked the good sheets!" A woman's voice, high pitched and a little shreiky, filter through the oak.

"Well, if you hadn't made me get out the bed from storage and just had her sleep in the guest room..." A man's patient tenor also came through, softer, and trying to make his wife see reason.

"She's going to be _family _Ron. Family doesn't sleep in the guest room!" Serephim took a step back. Maybe she could just run, she was fast.

"They did in my house..." The footsteps were at the door and Serephim froze.

The door flew open and the three people stared at one another. After a moment of an awkward silence the woman, taller then her husband, with a slighty gone expression on her face, broke out in a smile and decended onto Serephim. She squeeked as the woman exclaimed.

"_Finally._ Someone to _love.!"_

The man, Ron, and Serephim shared alook.

_Yep. _The man's face read. _She's always like that. _

Serephim smiled. She might like it here.


End file.
